Denoising Touch Gesture Input

ABSTRACT

In one embodiment, a computing device determines a touch gesture on a touch screen of the computing device. The touch gesture includes two or more data points that each correspond to a particular location on the touch screen and a particular point in time. For each of one or more of the data points, the computing device adjusts a time value representing its particular point in time. For each of one or more of the data points, the computing device adjusts a position value representing its particular location on the touch screen. The computing device fits a curve to the two or more data points to determine a user intent associated with the touch gesture.

PRIORITY

This application is a continuation under 35 U.S.C. §120 of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/648,143, filed 9 Oct. 2012.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure generally relates to mobile computing devices.

BACKGROUND

A mobile computing device—such as a smartphone, tablet computer, orlaptop computer—may include functionality for determining its location,direction, or orientation, such as a GPS receiver, compass, orgyroscope. Such a device may also include functionality for wirelesscommunication, such as BLUETOOTH communication, near-field communication(NFC), or infrared (IR) communication or communication with a wirelesslocal area networks (WLANs) or cellular-telephone network. Such a devicemay also include one or more cameras, scanners, touch screens,microphones, or speakers. Mobile computing devices may also executesoftware applications, such as games, web browsers, or social-networkingapplications. With social-networking applications, users may connect,communicate, and share information with other users in their socialnetworks.

SUMMARY OF PARTICULAR EMBODIMENTS

In particular embodiments, a computing device (which may be a mobilecomputing device) may determine a touch gesture on a touch screen of thecomputing device. The touch gesture may include two or more data points,and each data point may correspond to a particular location on the touchscreen and a particular point in time. The touch gesture may, forexample, be a flick, swipe, tap, drag, or pinch. The computing devicemay, for each of one or more of the data points, adjust a time valuerepresenting the data point's associated particular point in time. Thecomputing device may adjust a time value of a data point based on theproximity of the data point in time to other data points. The computingdevice may fit a curve to the data points in order to determine a userintent associated with the touch gesture. The user intent may, forexample, be a velocity associated with an animation within a graphicaluser interface (GUI) of an application displayed within the touchscreen. The animation may, for example, be scrolling or dismissing anelement of the GUI. The curve may be fit using a variety of techniquesincluding, for example, linear least-squares or nonlinear least-squaressolutions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example mobile device.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example computing platform of a mobile device.

FIG. 3A illustrates an example user touch gesture.

FIG. 3B illustrates an example set of data points of a user touchgesture.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example method for denoising user touch gestureinput.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example computer system.

DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example mobile device 100. This disclosurecontemplates mobile device 100 taking any suitable physical form. Asexample and not by way of limitation, mobile device 100 may be asingle-board computer system (SBC) (such as, for example, acomputer-on-module (COM) or system-on-module (SOM)), a laptop ornotebook computer system, a mobile telephone, a smartphone, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a tablet computer system, or a combination oftwo or more of these. In particular embodiments, mobile device 100 mayhave a touch screen 112 as an input component. In the example of FIG. 1,touch screen 112 is incorporated on a front surface of mobile device100. In the case of capacitive touch sensors, there may be two types ofelectrodes: transmitting and receiving. These electrodes may beconnected to a controller designed to drive the transmitting electrodeswith electrical pulses and measure the changes in capacitance from thereceiving electrodes caused by a touch or proximity input. In theexample of FIG. 1, one or more antennae 114A-C may be incorporated intoone or more sides of mobile device 100. Antennae 114A-C are componentsthat convert electric current into radio waves, and vice versa. Duringtransmission of signals, a transmitter applies an oscillating radiofrequency (RF) electric current to terminals of antennae 114A-C, andantennae 114A-C radiate the energy of the applied the current aselectromagnetic (EM) waves. During reception of signals, antennae 114A-Cconvert the power of an incoming EM wave into a voltage at the terminalsof antennae 114A-C. The voltage may be transmitted to a receiver foramplification.

While the mobile device 100 may be implemented in a variety of differenthardware and computing systems, FIG. 2 shows a schematic representationof the main components of an example computing platform of a mobiledevice, according to various particular embodiments. In particularembodiments, computing platform 202 may comprise controller 204, memory206, and input output subsystem 210. In particular embodiments,controller 204 which may comprise one or more processors and/or one ormore microcontrollers configured to execute instructions and to carryout operations associated with a computing platform. In variousembodiments, controller 204 may be implemented as a single-chip,multiple chips and/or other electrical components including one or moreintegrated circuits and printed circuit boards. Controller 204 mayoptionally contain a cache memory unit for temporary local storage ofinstructions, data, or computer addresses. By way of example, usinginstructions retrieved from memory, controller 204 may control thereception and manipulation of input and output data between componentsof computing platform 202. By way of example, controller 204 may includeone or more processors or one or more controllers dedicated for certainprocessing tasks of computing platform 202, for example, for 2D/3Dgraphics processing, image processing, or video processing.

Controller 204 together with a suitable operating system may operate toexecute instructions in the form of computer code and produce and usedata. By way of example and not by way of limitation, the operatingsystem may be Windows-based, Mac-based, or Unix or Linux-based, orSymbian-based, among other suitable operating systems. The operatingsystem, other computer code and/or data may be physically stored withinmemory 206 that is operatively coupled to controller 204.

Memory 206 may encompass one or more storage media and generally providea place to store computer code (e.g. software and/or firmware) and datathat are used by computing platform 202. By way of example, memory 206may include various tangible computer-readable storage media includingRead-Only Memory (ROM) and/or Random-Access Memory (RAM). As is wellknown in the art, ROM acts to transfer data and instructionsuni-directionally to controller 204, and RAM is used typically totransfer data and instructions in a bi-directional manner. Memory 206may also include one or more fixed storage devices in the form of, byway of example, hard disk drives (HDDs), solid-state drives (SSDs),flash-memory cards (e.g. Secured Digital or SD cards), among othersuitable forms of memory coupled bi-directionally to controller 204.Information may also reside on one or more removable storage medialoaded into or installed in computing platform 202 when needed. By wayof example, any of a number of suitable memory cards (e.g. SD cards) maybe loaded into computing platform 202 on a temporary or permanent basis.

Input output subsystem 210 may comprise one or more input and outputdevices operably connected to controller 204. For example, input outputsubsystem may include keyboard, mouse, one or more buttons, and/or,display (e.g. liquid crystal display (LCD), or any other suitabledisplay technology). Generally, input devices are configured to transferdata, commands and responses from the outside world into computingplatform 202. The display is generally configured to display a graphicaluser interface (GUI) that provides an easy to use visual interfacebetween a user of the computing platform 202 and the operating system orapplication(s) running on the mobile device. Generally, the GUI presentsprograms, files and operational options with graphical images. Duringoperation, the user may select and activate various graphical imagesdisplayed on the display in order to initiate functions and tasksassociated therewith. Input output subsystem 210 may also include touchbased devices such as touch pad and touch screen. A touch pad is aninput device including a surface that detects touch-based inputs ofusers. Similarly, a touch screen is a display that detects the presenceand location of user touch inputs. Input output system 210 may alsoinclude dual touch or multi-touch displays or touch pads that canidentify the presence, location and movement of more than one touchinputs, such as two or three finger touches.

In particular embodiments, computing platform 202 may additionallycomprise audio subsystem 212, camera subsystem 212, wirelesscommunication subsystem 216, sensor subsystems 218, and/or wiredcommunication subsystem 220, operably connected to controller 204 tofacilitate various functions of computing platform 202. For example,Audio subsystem 212, including a speaker, a microphone, and a codecmodule configured to process audio signals, can be utilized tofacilitate voice-enabled functions, such as voice recognition, voicereplication, digital recording, and telephony functions. For example,camera subsystem 212, including an optical sensor (e.g. a chargedcoupled device (CCD), image sensor), can be utilized to facilitatecamera functions, such as recording photographs and video clips. Forexample, wired communication subsystem 220 can include a UniversalSerial Bus (USB) port for file transferring, or a Ethernet port forconnection to a local area network (LAN). Additionally, computingplatform 202 may be powered by power source 232.

Wireless communication subsystem 216 can be designed to operate over oneor more wireless networks, for example, a wireless PAN (WPAN) (e.g. aBLUETOOTH), a WI-FI network (e.g. an 802.11a/b/g/n network), a WI-MAXnetwork, a cellular network (such as, for example, a Global System forMobile Communications (GSM) network, a Long Term Evolution (LTE)network). Additionally, wireless communication subsystem 216 may includehosting protocols such that computing platform 202 may be configured asa base station for other wireless devices. Other input/output devicesmay include an accelerometer that can be used to detect the orientationof the device.

Sensor subsystem 218 may include one or more sensor devices to provideadditional input and facilitate multiple functionalities of computingplatform 202. For example, sensor subsystems 218 may include GPS sensorfor location positioning, altimeter for altitude positioning, motionsensor for determining orientation of a mobile device, light sensor forphotographing function with camera subsystem 212, temperature sensor formeasuring ambient temperature, and/or biometric sensor for securityapplication (e.g. fingerprint reader).

In particular embodiments, various components of computing platform 202may be operably connected together by one or more buses (includinghardware and/or software). As an example and not by way of limitation,the one or more buses may include an Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) orother graphics bus, a front-side bus (FSB), a HYPERTRANSPORT (HT)interconnect, an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, an INFINIBANDinterconnect, a low-pin-count (LPC) bus, a memory bus, a PeripheralComponent Interconnect Express PCI-Express bus, a serial advancedtechnology attachment (SATA) bus, a Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C) bus,a Secure Digital (SD) memory interface, a Secure Digital Input Output(SDIO) interface, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) bus, a General PurposeInput/Output (GPIO) bus, an Advanced Microcontroller Bus Architecture(AMBA) bus, or another suitable bus or a combination of two or more ofthese.

In particular embodiments, mobile device 100 may include a touch pad ora touch screen 112 as an input device. A touch pad is an input deviceincluding a surface that detects touch-based inputs of users. Similarly,a touch screen is an electronic visual display surface that may detectthe presence and location of user touch inputs. Touch screen 112 may bea single-touch, dual-touch, or multi-touch screen. So-called dual touchor multi-touch input devices refer to devices that may identify thepresence, location and movement of more than one touch input, such astwo- or three-finger touches. A system incorporating one or moretouch-based input devices may monitor one or more touch-sensitivesurfaces for touch or near-touch inputs from a user. When one or moresuch user inputs occur, the system may determine the distinct area(s) ofcontact and identify the nature of the touch or near-touch input(s) via,e.g., geometric features and geometric arrangements (e.g. location ormovement).

The system may also determine if the inputs correspond to various touchevents or gestures (e.g. tap, drag, swipe, pinch, or flick). These touchevents may each correspond to certain actions to be taken by mobiledevice 100. For example, a flick up may correspond to the action ofscrolling upward within an application displayed via touch screen 112, aflick down may correspond to the action of scrolling downward within anapplication displayed via touch screen 112, or (in other cases), a flickup or down may correspond to the dismissal of an element of a graphicaluser interface (e.g. within an application running on mobile device 100)being displayed via touch screen 112. A user may also have an intentconveyed via the user's touch gesture. For example, a user may know thatthe gesture of a flick will scroll within an application displayed viatouch screen 112. The velocity of the user's gesture may indicate theuser's intent with respect to, for example, the velocity associated withan animation within the graphical user interface of an applicationdisplayed by touch screen 112. The user may flick quickly, intendingthat the corresponding action by mobile device 100 be a quick scrollingwithin the application. The user may also flick slowly, intending thatthe corresponding action by mobile device 100 be a slow scrolling withinthe application. Similarly, the user may flick slowly or quickly,intending a slow or quick dismissal of an element of the GUI displayedon touch screen 112.

Recognition of touch events by a system with one or more touch-basedinput devices—i.e., identifying one or more touch inputs by a user anddetermining corresponding touch event(s)—may be implemented by acombination of hardware, software, or firmware (or device drivers). Oneor more libraries may be used by one or more applications running onmobile device 100 to recognize touch events. For example, mobile device100 may comprise (e.g., as part of computing platform 202) one or moredevice drivers communicating with one or more touch-based input devicesto detect touch inputs. Mobile device 100 may comprise a touch gesturelibrary containing touch event modules (e.g. computer code) or logic forrecognizing touch inputs detected by the device drivers as touch eventsor gestures (e.g. tap, drag, swipe, pinch, or flick). One or moreapplications running on mobile device 100 may detect and process orrespond to touch events or gestures by subscribing as listeners to touchevent modules in the touch gesture library.

A user may perform a touch gesture (e.g. flick up) on the surface oftouch screen 112. Touch screen 112, in combination with device driversand a touch gesture library, may allow mobile device 100 (e.g.controller 204) to determine a touch gesture based on a touch trajectory(e.g. a series of data points) of the user's touch gesture input on thesurface of touch screen 112. FIG. 3A depicts an example trace of a touchgesture performed by a user on the surface of touch screen 112 of mobiledevice 100. In the example of FIG. 3A, a user performs a flick upward onthe surface of touch screen 112. The flick gesture as performed by theuser (with, e.g., a finger) begins at point 310 on touch screen 112 andends at point 320 on touch screen 112. The flick gesture, including itsstarting and ending points, may be located within a two-dimensionalcoordinate system of points on the surface of touch screen 112,indicated by the dashed x- and y-axes in FIG. 3A. In many cases, thetouch inputs received by mobile device 100 may be noisy. Thedetermination of a user's finger position at various times during atouch gesture may be hampered by external sources of noise (e.g. ambientnoise from the atmosphere the mobile device is operating in) or byinternal sources of noise (e.g. noisiness in the event processinghardware, software, or firmware of the mobile device). Due to thesenoise factors, mobile device 100 may only capture data representing asubset of a user's touch gesture, such as a set of points along the pathof the user's touch gesture.

In particular embodiments, mobile device 100 may capture a series ofdata points that together form a touch trajectory from the noisy inputreceived from a user's touch gesture on touch screen 112. FIG. 3Billustrates an example series of data points captured via touch screen112 of a user's y-direction touch trajectory over time. In the exampleof FIG. 3B, a set of seven data points of the user's position arecollected over time by mobile device 100. These seven data points arenot evenly spaced in time or in position in this example, as may occurdue to the effects of noise. In other examples, mobile device 100 maycapture a series of data points from a touch trajectory, where each ofthe data points indicates a user's x-direction position over time. Inyet other examples, mobile device 100 may capture a series of datapoints from a touch trajectory, where each of the data points indicatesa user's x- and y-direction position over time.

A user's touch gesture and intention may be determined from this seriesof data points constituting a touch trajectory. For example, if it isdetermined that the user made an upward flicking motion with aparticular velocity, and if the upward flicking motion corresponds (e.g.in the touch gesture library) to an upward scrolling action within thegraphical user interface of an application running on mobile device 100,the animation of the upward scrolling action may be performed with avelocity matching or proportional to that of the user. The user'svelocity may be determined based on a curve fitted to the series of datapoints (forming the user touch trajectory) captured from touch screen112. In the example of FIG. 3B, the data points are not evenly spaced intime or in position. As such, performing an analysis to fit these pointsto a curve may not yield desirable results. In particular embodiments,before a curve is fitted to the series of data points in order todetermine the user's touch gesture velocity (e.g. an average velocityover a time period, or a velocity at a given point in time), the datapoints are “smoothed” both in time and in position.

Temporal smoothing may be performed, for example, when data points arenot evenly spaced in time. As an example, the data points may beclustered together in time in some timeframes, and spread far apart intime in other timeframes, as illustrated in FIG. 3B. The process ofsmoothing these data points in time includes adjusting (e.g. shifting)one or more of the data points in time (e.g. changing the time value ofthat data point) so that the data points are more evenly spaced in time.Smoothing the data points may involve adjusting some data points by anonzero amount of time and adjusting other data points by a negligibleor zero amount of time. This may, in particular embodiments, be done insuch a manner that the data points are completely evenly spaced in time(e.g. by taking the total time period over which the data points arecollected and dividing this time period by the number of data points toobtain the interval of time between each point). In other embodiments,the smoothing or shifting of data points in time may be done less thanperfectly evenly in time. This process is illustrated in FIG. 3B. Thefirst four data points collected are clustered closely together, thereis a gap in time before the next two data points are collected, and thena final gap in time before the last data point. In the example of FIG.3B, the temporal smoothing process involves shifting the time values ofthe second, third, and fourth data points later in time (e.g. to theright on the time axis), and shifting the time values of the fifth,sixth, and seventh data points earlier in time (e.g. to the left on thetime axis) in order to provide a more even spacing in time of the datapoints. The position values of the data points may be changed (as inFIG. 3B, to be described below) or left unchanged.

Positional smoothing may be performed on a set of data points, eitheralone or in conjunction with temporal smoothing. As an example, the datapoints may be unevenly spaced in position, as illustrated in FIG. 3B(e.g. along the y-axis). The process of smoothing these data points withrespect to position includes adjusting (e.g. shifting) one or more ofthe data points in position (e.g. changing the position value of thatdata point) so that the data points are pulled toward the averageposition (e.g. along the y-axis) of the data points. Smoothing the datapoints may involve adjusting some data points by a nonzero positionamount and adjusting other data points by a negligible or zero positionamount. This may, in particular embodiments, be done by taking theminimum and maximum position values to determine the positional rangeover which the data points lie and dividing this range by the number ofdata points to obtain the average position. This process is illustratedin FIG. 3B. In the example of FIG. 3B, the positional smoothing processinvolves shifting the position (e.g. y-axis) values of the first,second, and third data points higher toward the average position value(e.g. higher on the y-axis), and shifting the position values of thefifth, sixth, and seventh data points lower toward the average positionvalue (e.g. lower on the y-axis). In this process, the temporal valuesof the data points may be changed (as in FIG. 3B, described above) orleft unchanged.

A curve may be fitted to the series of data points (e.g. after smoothingof the data points with respect to time, position, or both) in order todetermine the user's touch gesture velocity. In particular embodiments,the curve may be fitted using linear methods (e.g. linear least squaresor weighted linear least squares), polynomial methods, spline-basedmethods, or any other type of non-linear method (e.g. non-linear leastsquares). This disclosure contemplates any suitable method of fitting acurve to the series of data points, as appropriate. In the example ofFIG. 3B, the curve fitted to the data points takes the form of a line.This line may, for example, be calculated using weighted linear leastsquares. The user's velocity in the touch gesture represents the slopeof this line (or, generally, the derivative of the fitted curvecalculated, e.g., using numerical methods at a particular point intime). Based on this velocity, which may, as described above, representa user's intent, mobile device 100 (e.g. controller 204) may take anaction corresponding to the user's gesture and intent. For example, ifthe user's gesture velocity for the upward flick illustrated in FIG. 3Bis determined to be 5 cm/s, the mobile device may animate the upwardscrolling action corresponding to the upward flick gesture at a speed of5 cm/s (or, in other examples, at a speed proportional to 5 cm/s).

FIG. 4 illustrates an example method for denoising user touch gestureinputs. The method may begin at step 410, where a computing device (e.g.mobile device 100) determines a touch gesture on a touch screen of thecomputing device. The touch gesture may include two or more data points,and each data point corresponds to a particular location on the touchscreen and a particular point in time. At step 420, the computing deviceadjusts a time value (representing a particular point in time) of one ormore of the data points. At step 425, the computing device adjusts aposition value (representing a particular location, e.g. on touch screen112) of one or more of the data points. Positional smoothing andtemporal smoothing may be performed independently, such that there ismore positional smoothing than temporal smoothing, or vice versa. Atstep 430, the computing device fits a curve to the two or more datapoints in order to determine a user intent associated with the touchgesture. Particular embodiments may repeat one or more steps of themethod of FIG. 4, where appropriate. Although this disclosure describesand illustrates particular steps of the method of FIG. 4 as occurring ina particular order, this disclosure contemplates any suitable steps ofthe method of FIG. 4 occurring in any suitable order. Moreover, althoughthis disclosure describes and illustrates particular components,devices, or systems carrying out particular steps of the method of FIG.4, this disclosure contemplates any suitable combination of any suitablecomponents, devices, or systems carrying out any suitable steps of themethod of FIG. 4.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example computer system 500. In particularembodiments, one or more computer systems 500 perform one or more stepsof one or more methods described or illustrated herein. In particularembodiments, one or more computer systems 500 provide functionalitydescribed or illustrated herein. In particular embodiments, softwarerunning on one or more computer systems 500 performs one or more stepsof one or more methods described or illustrated herein or providesfunctionality described or illustrated herein. Particular embodimentsinclude one or more portions of one or more computer systems 500.Herein, reference to a computer system may encompass a computing device,where appropriate. Moreover, reference to a computer system mayencompass one or more computer systems, where appropriate.

This disclosure contemplates any suitable number of computer systems500. This disclosure contemplates computer system 500 taking anysuitable physical form. As example and not by way of limitation,computer system 500 may be an embedded computer system, a system-on-chip(SOC), a single-board computer system (SBC) (such as, for example, acomputer-on-module (COM) or system-on-module (SOM)), a desktop computersystem, a laptop or notebook computer system, an interactive kiosk, amainframe, a mesh of computer systems, a mobile telephone, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a server, a tablet computer system, or acombination of two or more of these. Where appropriate, computer system500 may include one or more computer systems 500; be unitary ordistributed; span multiple locations; span multiple machines; spanmultiple data centers; or reside in a cloud, which may include one ormore cloud components in one or more networks. Where appropriate, one ormore computer systems 500 may perform without substantial spatial ortemporal limitation one or more steps of one or more methods describedor illustrated herein. As an example and not by way of limitation, oneor more computer systems 500 may perform in real time or in batch modeone or more steps of one or more methods described or illustratedherein. One or more computer systems 500 may perform at different timesor at different locations one or more steps of one or more methodsdescribed or illustrated herein, where appropriate.

In particular embodiments, computer system 500 includes a processor 502,memory 504, storage 506, an input/output (I/O) interface 508, acommunication interface 510, and a bus 512. Although this disclosuredescribes and illustrates a particular computer system having aparticular number of particular components in a particular arrangement,this disclosure contemplates any suitable computer system having anysuitable number of any suitable components in any suitable arrangement.

In particular embodiments, processor 502 includes hardware for executinginstructions, such as those making up a computer program. As an exampleand not by way of limitation, to execute instructions, processor 502 mayretrieve (or fetch) the instructions from an internal register, aninternal cache, memory 504, or storage 506; decode and execute them; andthen write one or more results to an internal register, an internalcache, memory 504, or storage 506. In particular embodiments, processor502 may include one or more internal caches for data, instructions, oraddresses. This disclosure contemplates processor 502 including anysuitable number of any suitable internal caches, where appropriate. Asan example and not by way of limitation, processor 502 may include oneor more instruction caches, one or more data caches, and one or moretranslation lookaside buffers (TLBs). Instructions in the instructioncaches may be copies of instructions in memory 504 or storage 506, andthe instruction caches may speed up retrieval of those instructions byprocessor 502. Data in the data caches may be copies of data in memory504 or storage 506 for instructions executing at processor 502 tooperate on; the results of previous instructions executed at processor502 for access by subsequent instructions executing at processor 502 orfor writing to memory 504 or storage 506; or other suitable data. Thedata caches may speed up read or write operations by processor 502. TheTLBs may speed up virtual-address translation for processor 502. Inparticular embodiments, processor 502 may include one or more internalregisters for data, instructions, or addresses. This disclosurecontemplates processor 502 including any suitable number of any suitableinternal registers, where appropriate. Where appropriate, processor 502may include one or more arithmetic logic units (ALUs); be a multi-coreprocessor; or include one or more processors 502. Although thisdisclosure describes and illustrates a particular processor, thisdisclosure contemplates any suitable processor.

In particular embodiments, memory 504 includes main memory for storinginstructions for processor 502 to execute or data for processor 502 tooperate on. As an example and not by way of limitation, computer system500 may load instructions from storage 506 or another source (such as,for example, another computer system 500) to memory 504. Processor 502may then load the instructions from memory 504 to an internal registeror internal cache. To execute the instructions, processor 502 mayretrieve the instructions from the internal register or internal cacheand decode them. During or after execution of the instructions,processor 502 may write one or more results (which may be intermediateor final results) to the internal register or internal cache. Processor502 may then write one or more of those results to memory 504. Inparticular embodiments, processor 502 executes only instructions in oneor more internal registers or internal caches or in memory 504 (asopposed to storage 506 or elsewhere) and operates only on data in one ormore internal registers or internal caches or in memory 504 (as opposedto storage 506 or elsewhere). One or more memory buses (which may eachinclude an address bus and a data bus) may couple processor 502 tomemory 504. Bus 512 may include one or more memory buses, as describedbelow. In particular embodiments, one or more memory management units(MMUs) reside between processor 502 and memory 504 and facilitateaccesses to memory 504 requested by processor 502. In particularembodiments, memory 504 includes random access memory (RAM). This RAMmay be volatile memory, where appropriate Where appropriate, this RAMmay be dynamic RAM (DRAM) or static RAM (SRAM). Moreover, whereappropriate, this RAM may be single-ported or multi-ported RAM. Thisdisclosure contemplates any suitable RAM. Memory 504 may include one ormore memories 504, where appropriate. Although this disclosure describesand illustrates particular memory, this disclosure contemplates anysuitable memory.

In particular embodiments, storage 506 includes mass storage for data orinstructions. As an example and not by way of limitation, storage 506may include a hard disk drive (HDD), a floppy disk drive, flash memory,an optical disc, a magneto-optical disc, magnetic tape, or a UniversalSerial Bus (USB) drive or a combination of two or more of these. Storage506 may include removable or non-removable (or fixed) media, whereappropriate. Storage 506 may be internal or external to computer system500, where appropriate. In particular embodiments, storage 506 isnon-volatile, solid-state memory. In particular embodiments, storage 506includes read-only memory (ROM). Where appropriate, this ROM may bemask-programmed ROM, programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM),electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), electrically alterable ROM (EAROM),or flash memory or a combination of two or more of these. Thisdisclosure contemplates mass storage 506 taking any suitable physicalform. Storage 506 may include one or more storage control unitsfacilitating communication between processor 502 and storage 506, whereappropriate. Where appropriate, storage 506 may include one or morestorages 506. Although this disclosure describes and illustratesparticular storage, this disclosure contemplates any suitable storage.

In particular embodiments, I/O interface 508 includes hardware,software, or both providing one or more interfaces for communicationbetween computer system 500 and one or more I/O devices. Computer system500 may include one or more of these I/O devices, where appropriate. Oneor more of these I/O devices may enable communication between a personand computer system 500. As an example and not by way of limitation, anI/O device may include a keyboard, keypad, microphone, monitor, mouse,printer, scanner, speaker, still camera, stylus, tablet, touch screen,trackball, video camera, another suitable I/O device or a combination oftwo or more of these. An I/O device may include one or more sensors.This disclosure contemplates any suitable I/O devices and any suitableI/O interfaces 508 for them. Where appropriate, I/O interface 508 mayinclude one or more device or software drivers enabling processor 502 todrive one or more of these I/O devices. I/O interface 508 may includeone or more I/O interfaces 508, where appropriate. Although thisdisclosure describes and illustrates a particular I/O interface, thisdisclosure contemplates any suitable I/O interface.

In particular embodiments, communication interface 510 includeshardware, software, or both providing one or more interfaces forcommunication (such as, for example, packet-based communication) betweencomputer system 500 and one or more other computer systems 500 or one ormore networks. As an example and not by way of limitation, communicationinterface 510 may include a network interface controller (NIC) ornetwork adapter for communicating with an Ethernet or other wire-basednetwork or a wireless NIC (WNIC) or wireless adapter for communicatingwith a wireless network, such as a WI-FI network. This disclosurecontemplates any suitable network and any suitable communicationinterface 510 for it. As an example and not by way of limitation,computer system 500 may communicate with an ad hoc network, a personalarea network (PAN), a local area network (LAN), a wide area network(WAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), or one or more portions of theInternet or a combination of two or more of these. One or more portionsof one or more of these networks may be wired or wireless. As anexample, computer system 500 may communicate with a wireless PAN (WPAN)(such as, for example, a BLUETOOTH WPAN), a WI-FI network, a WI-MAXnetwork, a cellular telephone network (such as, for example, a GlobalSystem for Mobile Communications (GSM) network), or other suitablewireless network or a combination of two or more of these. Computersystem 500 may include any suitable communication interface 510 for anyof these networks, where appropriate. Communication interface 510 mayinclude one or more communication interfaces 510, where appropriate.Although this disclosure describes and illustrates a particularcommunication interface, this disclosure contemplates any suitablecommunication interface.

In particular embodiments, bus 512 includes hardware, software, or bothcoupling components of computer system 500 to each other. As an exampleand not by way of limitation, bus 512 may include an AcceleratedGraphics Port (AGP) or other graphics bus, an Enhanced Industry StandardArchitecture (EISA) bus, a front-side bus (FSB), a HYPERTRANSPORT (HT)interconnect, an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, an INFINIBANDinterconnect, a low-pin-count (LPC) bus, a memory bus, a Micro ChannelArchitecture (MCA) bus, a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, aPCI-Express (PCIe) bus, a serial advanced technology attachment (SATA)bus, a Video Electronics Standards Association local (VLB) bus, oranother suitable bus or a combination of two or more of these. Bus 512may include one or more buses 512, where appropriate. Although thisdisclosure describes and illustrates a particular bus, this disclosurecontemplates any suitable bus or interconnect.

Herein, a computer-readable non-transitory storage medium or media mayinclude one or more semiconductor-based or other integrated circuits(ICs) (such, as for example, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) orapplication-specific ICs (ASICs)), hard disk drives (HDDs), hybrid harddrives (HHDs), optical discs, optical disc drives (ODDs),magneto-optical discs, magneto-optical drives, floppy diskettes, floppydisk drives (FDDs), magnetic tapes, solid-state drives (SSDs),RAM-drives, SECURE DIGITAL cards or drives, any other suitablecomputer-readable non-transitory storage media, or any suitablecombination of two or more of these, where appropriate. Acomputer-readable non-transitory storage medium may be volatile,non-volatile, or a combination of volatile and non-volatile, whereappropriate.

Herein, “or” is inclusive and not exclusive, unless expressly indicatedotherwise or indicated otherwise by context. Therefore, herein, “A or B”means “A, B, or both,” unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicatedotherwise by context. Moreover, “and” is both joint and several, unlessexpressly indicated otherwise or indicated otherwise by context.Therefore, herein, “A and B” means “A and B, jointly or severally,”unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicated otherwise by context.

The scope of this disclosure encompasses all changes, substitutions,variations, alterations, and modifications to the example embodimentsdescribed or illustrated herein that a person having ordinary skill inthe art would comprehend. The scope of this disclosure is not limited tothe example embodiments described or illustrated herein. Moreover,although this disclosure describes and illustrates respectiveembodiments herein as including particular components, elements,functions, operations, or steps, any of these embodiments may includeany combination or permutation of any of the components, elements,functions, operations, or steps described or illustrated anywhere hereinthat a person having ordinary skill in the art would comprehend.Furthermore, reference in the appended claims to an apparatus or systemor a component of an apparatus or system being adapted to, arranged to,capable of, configured to, enabled to, operable to, or operative toperform a particular function encompasses that apparatus, system,component, whether or not it or that particular function is activated,turned on, or unlocked, as long as that apparatus, system, or componentis so adapted, arranged, capable, configured, enabled, operable, oroperative.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: by a computing device,determining a touch gesture on a touch screen of the computing device,the touch gesture comprising two or more data points that eachcorrespond to a particular location on the touch screen and a particularpoint in time, wherein the data points correspond to differentrespective points in time; by the computing device, for each of one ormore of the data points, adjusting a time value representing itsparticular point in time with respect to time values for respectiveother ones of the data points; by the computing device, fitting a curveto the two or more data points to determine a user intent associatedwith the touch gesture.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the userintent is a velocity associated with an animation within a graphicaluser interface (GUI) displayed by the touch screen.
 3. The method ofclaim 2, wherein the animation comprises scrolling.
 4. The method ofclaim 2, wherein the animation comprises dismissing an element of theGUI.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the user intent is a velocityassociated with a touch event received by the touch screen.
 6. Themethod of claim 5, wherein the touch event comprises a pinch, a drag, ora tap.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the fitting the curve comprisesdetermining a linear solution, a non-linear least-squares solution, aspline-based solution, or a polynomial solution.
 8. The method of claim1, wherein the time value of at least one of the data points is adjustedbased on a proximity of the time value to one or more other time valuesof one or more other data points.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein thetime value of at least one of the data points is adjusted based on aproximity of a position value to one or more other position values ofone or more other data points, wherein a position value represents theparticular location of the data point on the touch screen with respectto position values representing particular locations for the respectiveother ones of the data points.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein thetime value of at least one of the data points is adjusted based on acomputed average interval between the data points.
 11. A methodcomprising: by a computing device, determining a touch gesture on atouch screen of the computing device, the touch gesture comprising twoor more data points that each correspond to a particular location on thetouch screen and a particular point in time, wherein the data pointscorrespond to different respective points in time; by the computingdevice, for each of one or more of the data points, adjusting a positionvalue representing its particular location on the touch screen withrespect to position values representing particular locations for therespective other ones of the data points; and by the computing device,fitting a curve to the two or more data points to determine a userintent associated with the touch gesture.
 12. The method of claim 11,wherein the user intent is a velocity associated with an animationwithin a graphical user interface (GUI) displayed by the touch screen.13. The method of claim 12, wherein the animation comprises scrolling.14. The method of claim 12, wherein the animation comprises dismissingan element of the GUI.
 15. The method of claim 11, wherein the userintent is a velocity associated with a touch event received by the touchscreen.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the touch event comprises apinch, a drag, or a tap.
 17. The method of claim 11, wherein the fittingthe curve comprises determining a linear solution, a non-linearleast-squares solution, a spline-based solution, or a polynomialsolution.
 18. The method of claim 11, wherein the position value of atleast one of the data points is adjusted based on a proximity of theposition value to one or more other position values of one or more otherdata points.
 19. The method of claim 11, wherein the position value ofat least one of the data points is adjusted based on a proximity of atime value to one or more other time values of one or more other datapoints, wherein a time value represents the particular point in timecorresponding to the data point with respect to time values forrespective other ones of the data points.
 20. The method of claim 11,wherein the position value of at least one of the data points isadjusted based on an average position value of the data points withrespect to at least one positional axis.